This looks like it has the potential to turn into a great web series. In this first instalment Doug Bolden talks about one of Laird Barron's short stories; 2005's Proboscis.
Showing posts with label Laird Barron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laird Barron. Show all posts
Wednesday, 4 March 2015
Doug Talks Weird
This looks like it has the potential to turn into a great web series. In this first instalment Doug Bolden talks about one of Laird Barron's short stories; 2005's Proboscis.
Friday, 26 December 2014
What a Day
Wow, yesterday was rather good for me and mine and I truly hope it was good for you too.
C and I got to spoil Little Ms. X, and one another, absolutely rotten. It was also really nice to see that the most excitedly expectant look on Ms. X's face wasn't when she was opening her own presents but when C was opening the Tremors collection we had gotten her. She's a good kid so she is.
I'm presently laying bed nursing something of a hangover after having rather over indulged in one of my more liquid presents..
I do like a wee tipple of Laphroig so I do.
I've been laying here in bed for the last half an hour or so wanting to crack into one, or some, of my other gifts from C and X but you know what? I can't decide which to delve into first! I have options paralysis! Oh the humanity!
As an added bonus this also turned up in the post on Xmas Eve.
So I have a rather wonderful amount of reading to do over the next few months if only can decide where to begin. :D
C and I got to spoil Little Ms. X, and one another, absolutely rotten. It was also really nice to see that the most excitedly expectant look on Ms. X's face wasn't when she was opening her own presents but when C was opening the Tremors collection we had gotten her. She's a good kid so she is.
I'm presently laying bed nursing something of a hangover after having rather over indulged in one of my more liquid presents..
I do like a wee tipple of Laphroig so I do.
I've been laying here in bed for the last half an hour or so wanting to crack into one, or some, of my other gifts from C and X but you know what? I can't decide which to delve into first! I have options paralysis! Oh the humanity!
As an added bonus this also turned up in the post on Xmas Eve.
So I have a rather wonderful amount of reading to do over the next few months if only can decide where to begin. :D
Monday, 14 July 2014
A Day Off!
Three actually. In a row! I've not had a day off work since June 12th and now I have three of them! Wahey! I can read, I can write. Oh me oh my do I feel good. :D
But what to read? I've got one hell of a backlog that has built up over the last year or so what with university, dissertation, and work. My present backlog looks a little like this, since you asked. Which you didn't but this is it anyway.
To Finish: This is all short stories. I tend to take a collection with me to read during my commute as the 20-30 minutes on the train is normally just about right to get through a story.
The Weird - edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer
The Dark Domain - Stefan Grabinski
The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter
American Supernatural Tales - edited by S.T. Joshi
To Read: Books that I haven't had the chance to dip into yet but am chomping at the bit to devour. :)
The Spectral Link - Thomas Ligotti
The Grimscribe's Puppets - edited by Joe Pulver
Celebrant - Michael Cisco
Deadtown Abbey - Sean Hoade
The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All - Laird Barron
I also need to be writing. Currently I have a cosmic horror story set amongst the Caledonii of Iron Age Scotland, and a post-apocalyptic Lovecraftian tale on the go. I also really need to get some more blog post writing done. On that front you can expect my half arsed attempt at an analysis of Ligotti's Our Temporary Supervisor - which is, beyond a doubt, my favourite story from the Grimscribe himself.
So, until next time. Stay weird. :D
PS: Also; BIG congratulations to Joe Pulver who's anthology The Grimscribe's Puppets won the Shirley Jackson award for best anthology! WAHEY!
But what to read? I've got one hell of a backlog that has built up over the last year or so what with university, dissertation, and work. My present backlog looks a little like this, since you asked. Which you didn't but this is it anyway.
To Finish: This is all short stories. I tend to take a collection with me to read during my commute as the 20-30 minutes on the train is normally just about right to get through a story.
The Weird - edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer
The Dark Domain - Stefan Grabinski
The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter
American Supernatural Tales - edited by S.T. Joshi
To Read: Books that I haven't had the chance to dip into yet but am chomping at the bit to devour. :)
The Spectral Link - Thomas Ligotti
The Grimscribe's Puppets - edited by Joe Pulver
Celebrant - Michael Cisco
Deadtown Abbey - Sean Hoade
The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All - Laird Barron
I also need to be writing. Currently I have a cosmic horror story set amongst the Caledonii of Iron Age Scotland, and a post-apocalyptic Lovecraftian tale on the go. I also really need to get some more blog post writing done. On that front you can expect my half arsed attempt at an analysis of Ligotti's Our Temporary Supervisor - which is, beyond a doubt, my favourite story from the Grimscribe himself.
So, until next time. Stay weird. :D
PS: Also; BIG congratulations to Joe Pulver who's anthology The Grimscribe's Puppets won the Shirley Jackson award for best anthology! WAHEY!
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Five of my Favourite Lovecraftian Short Stories
Over at the Lovecraft Ezine Mike Davis has been getting well known figures in the world of weird literature to share their top five favourite Lovecraftian stories. Now, I'm not well known, in the world of weird literature or otherwise, :D but thought I would pop a wee list of five of my favourites here. Not that they are my 'top five' as I can't really rank stories(or music, or anything else for that matter) in that way. Such things change with the day and/or the wind. :)
Also, I suppose some of these fit into the broader 'weird fiction' category rather than being specifically Lovecraftian.
In no particular order:
The Broadsword by Laird Barron: Horrible and unsettling story of an older man, disconnected from his family with few friends still living. A chance encounter brings him to the attention of an horrific cosmic force that... well, that would be spoilers. :D The Broadsword was published in S.T. Joshi's collection Black Wings of Cthulhu: Twenty-One Tales of Lovecraftian Horror.
Inhabitants of Wraithwood by W.H. Pugmire: Riffing off of H.P. Lovecraft's Pickman's Model Wilum Pugmire paints a grotesque picture(see what I did there?) of a man on the run encountering a strange family which would make most people long for the comfort of a jail cell. Inhabitants of Wraithwood is also in Black Wings of Cthulhu: Twenty-One Tales of Lovecraftian Horror.
The Area by Stefan Grabinski: Grabinski(1887-1936) was a Polish author sometimes referred to as being a Polish 'Poe' or 'Lovecraft'. Whilst I don't think either of these are especially adequate comparisons his story The Area has a very Lovecraftian feel to it. Following an author's obsession with an unoccupied cottage opposite his own residence and, eventually, the manifestation of his innermost imaginings. The Area has been translated into English by Miroslaw Lipinski in the collection The Dark Domain.
Technicolor by John Langan: In this short Langan investigates the use of colour by Edgar Allen Poe in The Masque of the Red Death. It takes the form of a university lecture outline the mysterious circumstances that influenced Poe to write his tale. I can't heap enough praise on John Langan. The collection that contains Technicolor, The Wide Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies, is a masterpiece of weird fiction. I would probably have included all the stories in this collection but thought I should go for a wee bit of variety. ;)
Our Temporary Supervisor by Thomas Ligotti: I've mentioned before that I am a massive Ligotti aficionado. His unrelenting negativity and extremely black humour has a very particular appeal to me. Of all the stories I have read by Ligotti however it is Our Temporary Supervisor that has had the most impact upon me. Part of his series of corporate horror stories involving the Quine Organisation this story, more than any of his others, for me perfectly encapsulates the pointlessness and spirit crushing nature of most work in modern capitalism. The story of a worker who assembles metal pieces all day long, who has no idea what they do other than, he assumes, that they fit into a larger whole. The alienation and dehumanisation of abstract labour. Our Temporary Supervisor is available in the collection Teatro Grottesco.
So there you go. Five weird tales and collections to check out should you so wish. And you do. Wish to. Go on. Buy them. ;)
Also, I suppose some of these fit into the broader 'weird fiction' category rather than being specifically Lovecraftian.
In no particular order:
The Broadsword by Laird Barron: Horrible and unsettling story of an older man, disconnected from his family with few friends still living. A chance encounter brings him to the attention of an horrific cosmic force that... well, that would be spoilers. :D The Broadsword was published in S.T. Joshi's collection Black Wings of Cthulhu: Twenty-One Tales of Lovecraftian Horror.
Inhabitants of Wraithwood by W.H. Pugmire: Riffing off of H.P. Lovecraft's Pickman's Model Wilum Pugmire paints a grotesque picture(see what I did there?) of a man on the run encountering a strange family which would make most people long for the comfort of a jail cell. Inhabitants of Wraithwood is also in Black Wings of Cthulhu: Twenty-One Tales of Lovecraftian Horror.
The Area by Stefan Grabinski: Grabinski(1887-1936) was a Polish author sometimes referred to as being a Polish 'Poe' or 'Lovecraft'. Whilst I don't think either of these are especially adequate comparisons his story The Area has a very Lovecraftian feel to it. Following an author's obsession with an unoccupied cottage opposite his own residence and, eventually, the manifestation of his innermost imaginings. The Area has been translated into English by Miroslaw Lipinski in the collection The Dark Domain.
Technicolor by John Langan: In this short Langan investigates the use of colour by Edgar Allen Poe in The Masque of the Red Death. It takes the form of a university lecture outline the mysterious circumstances that influenced Poe to write his tale. I can't heap enough praise on John Langan. The collection that contains Technicolor, The Wide Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies, is a masterpiece of weird fiction. I would probably have included all the stories in this collection but thought I should go for a wee bit of variety. ;)
Our Temporary Supervisor by Thomas Ligotti: I've mentioned before that I am a massive Ligotti aficionado. His unrelenting negativity and extremely black humour has a very particular appeal to me. Of all the stories I have read by Ligotti however it is Our Temporary Supervisor that has had the most impact upon me. Part of his series of corporate horror stories involving the Quine Organisation this story, more than any of his others, for me perfectly encapsulates the pointlessness and spirit crushing nature of most work in modern capitalism. The story of a worker who assembles metal pieces all day long, who has no idea what they do other than, he assumes, that they fit into a larger whole. The alienation and dehumanisation of abstract labour. Our Temporary Supervisor is available in the collection Teatro Grottesco.
So there you go. Five weird tales and collections to check out should you so wish. And you do. Wish to. Go on. Buy them. ;)
Monday, 31 March 2014
Year's Best Weird Fiction
The Laird Barron edited collection The Year's Best Weird Fiction is available to pre-order over at Chizine(Clicky).
The table of contents was also recently published on Barron's blog.
“Success” by Michael Blumlein, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Nov./Dec.
“Like Feather, Like Bone” by Kristi DeMeester, Shimmer #17
“A Terror” by Jeffrey Ford, Tor.com, July.
“The Key to Your Heart Is Made of Brass” by John R. Fultz, Fungi #21
…
“A Cavern of Redbrick” by Richard Gavin, Shadows & Tall Trees #5
“The Krakatoan” by Maria Dahvana Headley, Nightmare Magazine/The Lowest Heaven, July.
“Bor Urus” by John Langan, Shadow’s Edge
“Furnace” by Livia Llewellyn, The Grimscribe’s Puppets
“Eyes Exchange Bank” by Scott Nicolay, The Grimscribe’s Puppets
“A Quest of Dream” by W.H. Pugmire, Bohemians of Sesqua Valley
“(he) Dreams of Lovecraftian Horror” by Joseph S. Pulver Sr., Lovecraft eZine #28
“Dr. Blood and the Ultra Fabulous Glitter Squadron” by A.C. Wise, Ideomancer Vol. 12 Issue 2
“The Year of the Rat” by Chen Quifan, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August.
“Fox into Lady” by Anne-Sylvie Salzman, Darkscapes
“Olimpia’s Ghost” by Sofia Samatar, Phantom Drift #3
“The Nineteenth Step” by Simon Strantzas, Shadows Edge
“The Girl in the Blue Coat” by Anna Taborska, Exotic Gothic 5 Vol. 1
“In Limbo” by Jeffrey Thomas, Worship the Night
“Moonstruck” by Karin Tidbeck, Shadows & Tall Trees #5
“Swim Wants to Know If It’s as Bad as Swim Thinks” by Paul Tremblay, Bourbon Penn #8
“No Breather in the World But Thee” by Jeff VanderMeer, Nightmare Magazine, March.
“Shall I Whisper to You of Moonlight, of Sorrow, of Pieces of Us?” by Damien Angelica Walters, Shock Totem #7.
I can't wait to get this through the letter box. :)
The table of contents was also recently published on Barron's blog.
“Success” by Michael Blumlein, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Nov./Dec.
“Like Feather, Like Bone” by Kristi DeMeester, Shimmer #17
“A Terror” by Jeffrey Ford, Tor.com, July.
“The Key to Your Heart Is Made of Brass” by John R. Fultz, Fungi #21
…
“A Cavern of Redbrick” by Richard Gavin, Shadows & Tall Trees #5
“The Krakatoan” by Maria Dahvana Headley, Nightmare Magazine/The Lowest Heaven, July.
“Bor Urus” by John Langan, Shadow’s Edge
“Furnace” by Livia Llewellyn, The Grimscribe’s Puppets
“Eyes Exchange Bank” by Scott Nicolay, The Grimscribe’s Puppets
“A Quest of Dream” by W.H. Pugmire, Bohemians of Sesqua Valley
“(he) Dreams of Lovecraftian Horror” by Joseph S. Pulver Sr., Lovecraft eZine #28
“Dr. Blood and the Ultra Fabulous Glitter Squadron” by A.C. Wise, Ideomancer Vol. 12 Issue 2
“The Year of the Rat” by Chen Quifan, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August.
“Fox into Lady” by Anne-Sylvie Salzman, Darkscapes
“Olimpia’s Ghost” by Sofia Samatar, Phantom Drift #3
“The Nineteenth Step” by Simon Strantzas, Shadows Edge
“The Girl in the Blue Coat” by Anna Taborska, Exotic Gothic 5 Vol. 1
“In Limbo” by Jeffrey Thomas, Worship the Night
“Moonstruck” by Karin Tidbeck, Shadows & Tall Trees #5
“Swim Wants to Know If It’s as Bad as Swim Thinks” by Paul Tremblay, Bourbon Penn #8
“No Breather in the World But Thee” by Jeff VanderMeer, Nightmare Magazine, March.
“Shall I Whisper to You of Moonlight, of Sorrow, of Pieces of Us?” by Damien Angelica Walters, Shock Totem #7.
I can't wait to get this through the letter box. :)
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